Collaboration and Competition in Exoplanet Research

Collaboration and competition are strong driving forces in the modem search for exoplanets. It appears among individuals, agencies and nations, as well as between observing techniques and theoretical interpretation. I will argue that these forces, taken in balance, are beneficial to the field and are partly responsible for the rapid progress in the search for planets and ultimately the search for life beyond the solar system. Specific examples will include indirect detection of Earth analogs from ground and space and the direct detection of gas giant and terrestrial planets.